A few weeks ago, I blogged about getting bit by a deer tick and the increase in the sheer number of them across the State. Last week, the BDN ran an article about the increase in illness here in Maine due to those horrible bugs.
Here are some scary take aways if you live here:
* Lyme sickened about 1,000 Mainers in 2011 and more than 180 so far this year
* The deer tick can transmit Lyme, anaplasmosis and babesiosis.
* The dog tick can carry Lyme but doesn’t transmit it
* On average, 50 percent of Maine deer ticks carry disease
* Ticks are less of a problem in northern counties of Maine and at higher elevations (<-- don't complain about a good, snowy, cold winter!)
The biggest issue I had with this article is that they never mention that the rash you can get does not have to be near the site of the bite. Instead, it makes that assumption for the reader "But patients can miss the rash if the bite occurs where they can’t see it, such as under the hair on the back. If you get bit on your stomach, like I did, and it is an infected tick, you can get a rash on your foot, your back, your neck etc. It does not have to be where the bite is.
While writing this, I am pretty sure I had 3 ticks crawling on me. 4 months until October and snow!!!
Here are some scary take aways if you live here:
* Lyme sickened about 1,000 Mainers in 2011 and more than 180 so far this year
* The deer tick can transmit Lyme, anaplasmosis and babesiosis.
* The dog tick can carry Lyme but doesn’t transmit it
* On average, 50 percent of Maine deer ticks carry disease
* Ticks are less of a problem in northern counties of Maine and at higher elevations (<-- don't complain about a good, snowy, cold winter!)
The biggest issue I had with this article is that they never mention that the rash you can get does not have to be near the site of the bite. Instead, it makes that assumption for the reader "But patients can miss the rash if the bite occurs where they can’t see it, such as under the hair on the back. If you get bit on your stomach, like I did, and it is an infected tick, you can get a rash on your foot, your back, your neck etc. It does not have to be where the bite is.
While writing this, I am pretty sure I had 3 ticks crawling on me. 4 months until October and snow!!!
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